CHARLES Barkley has been cracking jokes on Inside the NBA about TNT losing the rights to the NBA.
On a recent episode of Inside the NBA, Barkley made a hilarious joke about unemployment.
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Ernie Johnson led a segment called Gone Fishing and acknowledged that the show was behind schedule.
Barkley was quick to make a joke, saying they were missing because they were looking for a job.
“We’ve been busy, Kenny,” Barkley said.
“We’re filling out job applications.”
The cast roared with laughter after Barkley’s joke, as he wasn’t shy about commenting on TNT’s loss of media rights.
Barkley also recently made a joke about being on LinkedIn to find another job.
He has been the most vocal of the Inside the NBA cast about the loss of media rights and has openly shared what it’s like inside the building.
“We have no idea what’s going to happen,” he said.
“We could lose him. I feel really bad for the people I work with.
“I mean, it’s brutal. It’s totally brutal, everyone is scared to death.”
The NBA is asking TNT parent Warner Bros. Discovery for $2.8 billion to top NBC’s bid for the final game package.
“It’s 50-50 that we lose our share to NBC,” Barkley said.
“Am I worried? 100%, because as much as we’ve been partners with the NBA for, I think, 40 years, you would think if it was close to a bidding war, we would get the benefit of the doubt.
“But clearly that’s not happening.
“They’re scared to death here now.”
Inside the future of the NBA?
The operation of the NBA on TNT Sports is in great doubt due to the NBA’s broadcast agreements.
The Emmy-winning sports show is a fan favorite thanks to the likes of Shaquille O’Neal and Charles Barkley.
But TNT’s broadcast deal with the NBA ends after next season and NBC appears poised to take over those rights in a $2.6 billion deal.
If TNT loses its NBA package, it will raise serious questions about the popular Inside the NBA.
One solution could be to recreate the show on another network, which would snatch the rights from the NBA.
Bill Simmons of The Ringer recently suggested that the deal was made for NBC.
“One of the funniest things is that we’re all pretending like the TV deal didn’t close a week and a half ago,” Simmons said in your podcast on Monday.
“I think it’s done. I think Warner [Bros. Discovery] I’ve lost.
“And I don’t know why we’re waiting until after the playoffs, maybe that’s how they have to do it.
“But it’s all over. NBC is understanding. I’m just telling you.”
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